Seahawks sign former track star who once announced an NFL Draft pick, hoping to boost offense

   

The Seattle Seahawks just acquired a guy with one of the coolest stories in the NFL.

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His name is Mitch Van Vooren, and he's a tight end that the Seahawks signed on Tuesday as an undrafted free agent.

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Van Vooren's story would be cool already even if it just included the fact that he played Division III football at a school called St. Norbert after being a Division I track athlete.

But that's not all.

Van Vooren also once announced an NFL Draft pick, back in 2016.

 

Van Vooren will be hoping he sticks around longer than the pick he announced, UCLA receiver Thomas Duarte.

He's got an intriguing chance based on his pedigree.

Van Vooren is 6-foot-5, 245 pounds.

At St. Norbert, he played 22 games, catching 65 passes for 1,045 yards and 13 TDs.

Before that, Van Vooren competed on the Marquette track and field team.

He was a star 400-meter hurdler, breaking the school record in what might be the most difficult race on a track.

Van Vooren also did the 400 hurdles at St. Norbert, making it to the D-III national championship meet.

He's clearly a supreme athlete. Now we'll see if the Seahawks can figure out a way to use those athletic abilities in such a manner to turn Van Vooren into a guy who can stick around the NFL.